Americans United - Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separationhttps://www.au.org/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation
The Religious Right and its allies work continually to turn the American people against church-state separation. A large part of their strategy is to spread misinformation about the history of church-state separation and how it has been interpreted by the courts. This page examines some of these common attacks and sets the record straight.
enMarginalizing Morality?: Fla. Pastor Claims Church-State Separation Prevents Children From Learning Not To Stealhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/marginalizing-morality-fla-pastor-claims-church-state-separation-prevents
<a href="/about/people/simon-brown">Simon Brown</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">There are plenty of ways to teach children that stealing is wrong without framing the discussion with religion. Public schools manage to impart secular morality lessons all the time.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A Florida pastor <a href="http://www.news4jax.com/news/pastor-calls-to-end-separation-of-church-and-state/33757324">thinks he has the solution to reducing theft in the United States</a>, and it has nothing to do with law enforcement.</p><p>As far as <a href="http://etag.tv/im-new/">the Rev. Garry Wiggins</a> of Evangel Temple Assembly of God in Jacksonville is concerned, school-age children are being prevented from learning basic morals – including that theft is wrong – because of the pesky constitutional principle of church-state separation.</p><p>“When you take moral codes, spiritual codes, Ten Commandments out of children's lives and they aren’t taught ‘Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill,’ they eventually raise up a generation where those principles don’t mean anything to them,” Wiggins told News 4 JAX recently.</p><p>Wiggins added that he would never break the law “because I was brought up in a culture of ‘Thou shalt not steal.’”</p><p>These comments came in response to the recent theft of about $15,000 worth of equipment from Wiggins’ church, including a golf cart and lawn-care tools. While Wiggins is rightfully upset about the incident, his proposed solution is way off base.</p><p>School-age children are not prevented from learning morality in the classroom simply because of the existence of the First Amendment. After all, moral codes against stealing and other wrong doing pre-date the Bible and are hardly unique to Judaism and Christianity. There are plenty of ways to teach children that stealing is wrong without framing the discussion with religion. Public schools manage to impart secular morality lessons all the time.</p><p>Rod Sullivan, a professor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, agreed that religion is not required to explain to kids why stealing is wrong.</p><p>“Clearly there are people that believe there should be a complete secularism of public schools and there are other people that believe religious concepts need to be taught, but all religions have basically the same code of ethics,” Sullivan told News 4 JAX. “There is nothing wrong with the public schools teaching what is right and what is wrong and teaching about ethics and morality. The only thing they can’t do is attach it to a certain religion. If they’re teaching about morality and not talking about Christian morality, it’s absolutely fine.” </p><p>Plus, who knows where the thieves who stole from Wiggins’ church stand on theology? They could easily be Christians – even members of Evangel Temple Assembly of God. Wiggins certainly cannot say for sure that those who burglarized his church have no knowledge of the Ten Commandments. </p><p>Sadly, Wiggins’ words are pretty typical of fundamentalists who look upon the ills of the United States and prescribe religion as the ideal treatment for a variety of societal ailments. From theft to <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/wicked-words-religious-right-leaders-blame-newtown-shooting-on-church-state">mass murder</a> to declining church attendance, the Religious Right and its allies frequently say church-state separation is to blame.</p><p>Of course the reality is there was never a time when America was problem free. And pastors <a href="https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/the-decline-and-fall-of-just-about-everything-carping-about-moral-decay-is">have been complaining about declining morals among Americans </a>since the foundation of the United States. Sermons from plenty of late-18th and early-19th century clergy claimed this country was wicked and beyond redemption.</p><p>Few would argue that modern America is not experiencing some societal dysfunction, but why would the answer to those problems be to gut a critical aspect of the First Amendment? Church-state separation is an overwhelmingly positive force in this country because it guarantees freedom of conscience. It most certainly does not encourage people to violate the law.</p><p>It is not for Americans United to say how best crime can be prevented. But turning public schools into religious indoctrination centers is absolutely not the solution.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/bibles-and-religious-texts-curricula">Bibles and Religious Texts in Curricula</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/garry-wiggins">Garry Wiggins</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/florida">Florida</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/first-amendment">First Amendment</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/evangel-temple-assembly-of-god">Evangel Temple Assembly of God</a></span></div></div>Tue, 21 Jul 2015 16:52:42 +0000Simon Brown11279 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/marginalizing-morality-fla-pastor-claims-church-state-separation-prevents#commentsThe ‘Christian Nation’ Myth: A Pernicious Claim That Needs To Die For Good https://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The Religious Right’s claim that the United States was founded to be a “Christian nation” has been debunked so many times by so many legitimate scholars that it’s amazing the assertion has any staying power.</p><p>Yet it does. Like a vampire in a cheap B-movie, the Christian nation myth keeps rising from the grave one more time – no matter how many times it is staked. It survives not because it has any basis in history but because it is a comforting counter-narrative to those Americans who cannot or will not accept the real story of our country’s origins – that we are an officially secular nation that extends religious freedom to all.</p><p>The Christian nation myth is to history what creationism is to biology. It’s a story that some people have latched onto because they are bothered by the facts.</p><p>For those who do care about facts, here are some that are relevant to this discussion:</p><p><em>Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does that document state that America is a Christian nation. </em>It’s telling that Christian nation proponents never talk about the Constitution. Instead, they point to obscure 19th century court opinions, proclamations by politicians or comments by figures who lived years after the Constitution was adopted. Why don’t they talk about the Constitution? Because that document is wholly secular. Nowhere in the body of text do the words “Christian,” “Christ,” “Jesus” or “God” even appear.</p><p>Advocates of church-state separation rightly point to the First Amendment which, through its language prohibiting laws “respecting an establishment of religion” and protecting the “free exercise thereof,” creates the separation of church and state. What’s sometimes overlooked is language at the end of Article VI, which states that there shall be “no religious test” for federal office. Article VI makes it clear that public office is open to everyone, despite where they worship or whether they worship at all. That’s an odd provision for an officially Christian nation to make. </p><p><em>Key founders did not support the Christian nation concept. </em>Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which is widely considered a precursor to the First Amendment, opposed anything like an official government-backed church. Jefferson’s protégé, James Madison, is one of the primary authors of the First Amendment. Like Jefferson, Madison was a strong opponent of church-state union, as his writings and his actions make clear. The writings of both men make it apparent that they were strong foes of the Christian nation idea.</p><p>Were there some founders who backed the Christian nation concept? Probably. But their views failed to carry the day. If they had won, the Constitution would look quite different.</p><p><em>At the time of its adoption, everyone knew that the Constitution was secular. </em>Some clergy and political leaders complained about the secular nature of the Constitution and its lack of Christian references. A few pastors went so far as to This type of carping continued into the 19th century. After the Civil War, a movement arose among conservative pastors to amend the Constitution and add references to God, Jesus and Christianity. (Obviously there would have been no need for this if the Constitution had already set up a Christian order.) The movement collapsed, yet in the modern era the spiritual descendants of this drive began claiming, against all available evidence, that the United States was indeed founded to be a Christian nation.</p><p><em>The Christian nation concept is not harmless.</em> Belief in the Christian nation concept has had several negative effects. When it is taught to children, it denies them the ability to learn about the true origins of religious liberty in America – a fascinating story in its own right. The Christian nation concept has also been used to undermine the separation of church and state, and it has served to motivate a generation of Religious Right activists.</p><p>The belief in America as an officially Christian nation also sends a message of exclusion. Americans hold many religious and philosophical beliefs. Many are Christian (and even there we see great variety), but others are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, humanist and so on. All Americans should be equal in the eyes of the government, yet the Christian nation concept sends the message that there is a “true” religion – Christianity – and all other beliefs are merely tolerated, at best. Adherents of these “lesser” belief systems are sent the message that they are second-class citizens, that they are little more than guests in their own nation.</p><p>In short, the Christian nation concept doesn’t celebrate the remarkable achievement of this nation – a story of religious freedom resting on a secular state that does not presume to meddle in private matters of theology. Instead, it buries that success story under a pile of far-right politics wedded to often dangerous forms of religious extremism and nationalism.</p><p>The Christian nation idea is more than just wrong from a historical perspective; it is an insult to a great principle, the separation of church and state, which many people worked hard to pioneer and others laid down their lives to defend. For that reason alone, the Christian nation fallacy must be strongly opposed. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Editorial</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11219" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim">The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth: A Pernicious Claim That Needs To Die For Good </a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11226 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim#commentsOne Nation Under God:https://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/books-ideas/one-nation-under-god
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><em>One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America </em>by Kevin M. Kruse. Basic Books 352 pp.</p><p>For advocates of the separation of church and state, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that the concept of “Judeo-Christian America” is a myth, and a relatively recent one at that. In his latest book, Princeton University historian Kevin Kruse reveals the economic and political roots of its origin story.</p><p>Previous entries in this field, including Peter Man­seau’s <em>One Nation, Under Gods </em>(see the April issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>) and Mat­thew Stewart’s <em>Nature’s God</em> examine America’s history of religious and intellectual diversity. Kruse takes a slightly different tack. He assumes the reader already understands that the Religious Right’s vision of a monolithically Christian America is false and focuses his time instead on examining the political motivations of that myth’s earliest creators.</p><p>It begins, as most political stories do, with money. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal promised to lift working Americans out of the grips of the Great Depression. Roos­evelt’s progressive policies endeared him to many in the working class, but lots of profit-minded business leaders identified the New Deal as an imminent threat to their economic interests. That put them at odds not only with the president and with workers but with Christian ministers, many of whom largely supported the humanitarian mission of FDR’s reforms.</p><p>Disgruntled businessmen identified a solution that established the framework for what we now call the Religious Right: Recruit ministers, and their flocks will follow. Early in the first chapter, Kruse quotes a speech by H.W. Prentis, then the president of the National Association of Manufacturers: “Economic facts are important, but they will never check the virus of collectivism. The only antidote is a revival of Am­erican patriotism and religious faith.”</p><p>Prentis and his peers in the business community quickly found allies in the church. Congregationalist minister James W. Fifield Jr., fond of liberal theology and libertarian politics, emerged as their most diligent and effective clergy partner.</p><p>Fifield’s tactics should be familiar to any dedicated observer of the contemporary Religious Right. Via his Los Angeles church, he built alliances with prominent Hollywood figures and businessmen. In 1935, he founded Spiritual Mobilization, advertised as a means to encourage “ministers of all denominations in America to check the trends toward pagan stateism, which would destroy our basic freedom and spiritual ideals.”</p><p>In practice, Spiritual Mobilization organized ministers into a formidable grassroots force. They first directed their efforts at the dismantling of the New Deal. But they didn’t stop there: In 1951, the ministers formed the Committee to Proclaim Liberty. Ostensibly, they organized the Committee to hold “Free­dom Under God” celebrations marking the Fourth of July.</p><p>But these celebrations weren’t just about the founding of our nation. Kruse writes that Committee members were overwhelmingly Republican fiscal conservatives. With help from corporate sponsors, the Committee mailed postcards to tens of thousands of clergy supporters, urging them to celebrate “Independence Sunday” in honor of the holiday in their Sunday sermons. Clergy were specifically encouraged to preach against the dangers of socialism – and for the spiritual reform of government.</p><p>Kruse dedicates significant space to dissecting Fifield’s mission and work, and given the influence Spiritual Mobilization and its affiliated organizations eventually wielded over the politics of the era, that makes sense. Fifield married libertarian economics to Christian nationalism and by doing so, created the initial momentum needed to drum up popular support for an America governed by sectarian impulses.</p><p>Despite his pivotal role in politicizing American Christianity, the minister isn’t as famous as one of his younger contemporaries: Billy Graham.</p><p>Kruse pays special attention to Graham’s relationship with President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Graham’s star couldn’t rise without powerful support, and Eisenhower proved a natural ally. The young evangelist played an instrumental role in encouraging the World War II hero to run for president. Once on the campaign trail, Eisenhower didn’t hesitate to insert his personal beliefs into his campaign for the White House.</p><p> With the support of Graham, Fifield’s Spiritual Mobilization and other financial and spiritual luminaries, Eisenhower secured a landslide electoral victory. After winning the presidency, he continued to seek Graham’s guidance, telling him, “I think one of the reasons I was elected was to help lead this country spiritually.”</p><p>In a speech made shortly thereafter, Eisenhower announced that “our form of government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply-felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is.”</p><p>Eisenhower backed those pronouncements with demonstrations of what we now typically call “Ceremonial Deism.” In partnership with the Freedoms Foundation – another Christian libertarian group founded by Fifield allies – Eisenhower and Herbert Hoover designed the “Credo of the American Way of Life.”</p><p>The credo depicted a tower with “Political and Economic Rights” at the top, and at the bottom, acting as the foundation, “Fundamental Belief in God.” Eisenhower incorporated the cre­do into his campaign rhetoric, and ac­cording to Kruse, even considered erecting a statue of it in Washington, D.C.</p><p>The credo may have been symbolic, but its message quickly manifested itself in real policies. As president, Eisenhower attended the first National Prayer Breakfast and continued the National Day of Prayer, first declared by his predecessor, Harry S. Truman. He also signed bills that added the phrase “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance and declared “In God We Trust” to be the national motto.</p><p>At the time, these measures largely met with approval from a devout American public. As Kruse notes, organizations like Americans United and smaller groups did raise some concerns about the constitutional implications of “Ceremonial Deism.” But it took legal action to restrict the more blatant violations inherent in the practice.</p><p>Kruse recounts in thorough detail the landmark Supreme Court rulings that established public schools as religiously neutral zones. This information is likely familiar to readers of <em>Church &amp; State</em>, so I won’t dwell on it here. Kruse’s handling of these famous legal battles is noteworthy, however, and sets the book apart from other takes on the conflicts in question.</p><p>Kruse segues neatly from the rise of a distinctly political Christianity to battles over school prayer. The crusade for Christian America, tirelessly waged by Eisenhower, Graham, Fifield and others, marched inexorably into public schools. Legal battles eventually coalesced around mandatory classroom Bible readings and coercive prayer. Both practices fell well within the precedent established by this proto-Religious Right, but the courts ruled them unconstitutional. Two key rulings, <em>Engel v. Vitale</em> and <em>Abington Township School District v. Schempp</em>, put a definitive end to the official endorsement of Christianity by public schools.</p><p>These decisions obviously had important ramifications for religious freedom. But the public backlash to them is arguably just as important. Within the context of the Cold War, secular public schools seemed little removed from the anti-religious communism of the Soviet Union. To Americans who had been won over by Fifield and company’s version of a uniformly Christian and capitalist country, these verdicts attacked a sacred national character.</p><p>That fury is likely what kept Spiritual Mobilization from becoming a relic and spurred the formation of the contemporary Religious Right.</p><p>To borrow a term from late sociologist Charles Tilly, Fifield and his allies created a repertoire of contention, a sort of tactical script that provided a template for future sectarian activism. The Religious Right’s current incarnation is irrevocably shaped by that repertoire and by the central conflict it espouses: God-fearing free enterprise in endless war with godless collectivism.</p><p>Kruse’s book will be an important resource for anyone who wonders why so many fundamentalist figureheads – clergy and politicians alike – promote fiscal conservatism alongside social conservatism. By extension, it also explains why the Religious Right continues to benefit from a remarkable financial war chest. Finally, it provides a timely look at the political origins of Ceremonial Deism and, in the process, undermines claims that the practice isn’t intended to exclude Americans who belong to minority belief traditions or are non-believers.</p><p>These lessons are especially valuable right now. The 2016 race for the White House has officially commenced, and the Religious Right’s repertoire is already in play. Perhaps the overarching theme of Kruse’s book is a simple one: Everything old is new again. </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/ms-sarah-jones">Sarah Jones</a><h3 >Was The Rise Of The Religious Right A Reaction To The New&nbsp;Deal?</h3><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="https://www.au.org/files/Kruse-Cover.jpg" width="228" height="346" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Books &amp; Ideas</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11219" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith">Founded On Faith?</a></h3>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/operation-exclusion">Operation Exclusion?</a></h3>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america">The Invention Of A Christian America</a></h3>
<h4>Scholar Steven K. Green Explores The Origins Of The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/au-in-action">AU In Action</a></h3>
<h4>Staff Members And Chapter Activists Spread The Word About Church-State Separation</h4> </div>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/nevada-passes-sweeping-school-choice-law">Nevada Passes Sweeping School Choice Law</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/around-the-world-israeli-soldier-avoids-jail">Around The World: Israeli Soldier Avoids Jail For Ham Sandwich</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-muslim-in">Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Muslim In Headscarf Case </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/with-au-s-help-nj-woman-s-lawsuit-over">With AU’s Help, N.J. Woman’s Lawsuit Over License Plate Advances</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/au-wins-another-round-in-legal-battle-with">AU Wins Another Round In Legal Battle With Notre Dame Over Birth Control Access </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/voters-in-ireland-rebuff-church-with-vote-in">Voters In Ireland Rebuff Church With Vote In Favor Of Marriage Equality</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/mo-church-can-t-demand-to-take-part-in-state">Mo. Church Can’t Demand To Take Part In State Aid Program, Court Says</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/montana-school-cancels-field-trip-to">Montana School Cancels Field Trip To Creationist Ministry After AU Complaint </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/colo-teacher-says-religious-activity-is">Colo. Teacher Says Religious Activity Is Rampant In Public School District</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/books-ideas/one-nation-under-god">One Nation Under God:</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim">The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth: A Pernicious Claim That Needs To Die For Good </a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-right-0">Religious Right</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/under-god">under god</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/the-new-deal">The New Deal</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kevin-m-kruse">Kevin M. Kruse</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11224 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/books-ideas/one-nation-under-god#commentsThe Invention Of A Christian Americahttps://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><strong><em>Editor’s Note:</em></strong> <em>Steven K. Green is the Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and director of the Center for Religion, Law &amp; Democracy at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon. Green, who served as legal director of Americans United from 1992—2001,<strong> i</strong>s the author of several books on church-state relations, most recently </em>Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding <em>(Oxford University Press).</em> <em>Green dis­cussed his new book with </em>Church &amp; State<em> Editor Rob Bos­ton recently</em>.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Q. When did the “Christian nation” myth begin to take off in America, and why did it arise?</em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> The Christian nation myth, at least the precursor to the one of today, arose in the early decades of the 19th century as the second and third generations of Americans – those without direct, personal knowledge of the nation’s founding – sought to sanctify America’s founding and its Founders as part of establishing a national identity. </p><p>Essentially, these writers, politicians and religious figures wanted to exemplify American republicanism and distinguish it from the radical republicanism that had arisen out of the French Revolution. One way was to provide the American version with a higher meaning. They also sought explanations for the seeming miraculous events of the American Revolution and constitutional for­ma­tion. After all, how else could a fledgling nation have defeated the world’s strongest power if it hadn’t been for God’s interposing providential hand? In this effort to define what America meant and why it was special, the Christian nation myth arose: America was specially ordained by God, and its Founders and founding documents had also been inspired by God.</p><p>This impulse also arose at a time of a massive religious revival during the first third of the 19th century, commonly called the Second Great Awakening. Evangelicals believed that Am­erica had been chosen by God to usher in the second coming of Je­sus. That millennial belief also required the sanctification of the nation and its beginnings. By the second third of the century, this narrative of the Christian origins of the Uni­ted States was firmly en­trench­ed. Modern-day purveyors of the Christian na­tion account fail to understand that that perspective was not shared by the members of the founding generation and that they are relying on a na­rrative purposefully created by later generations.</p><p><strong><em>Q. Why do you think the myth has such staying power?</em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> America in practice has always been at tension with the values expressed in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. How else can we explain slavery and the subjugation of women in the 19th century in contrast to the value of equality? In the same vein, even though the majority of early Americans supported religious disestablishment and various conceptions of church-state separation, many wanted (and still want) some affirmation of a special relationship between America and God. Many people still seek explanations for Am­erica’s successes (usually ignoring its failings) and desire to see America as unique and special. They view Christianity as having a positive impact on the culture and public policy and worry about the implications of secularism. Taken together, these people are uneasy about the implications of church-state separation.</p><p>The myth has such staying power because the idea of America’s religious origins can mean different things to different people. For some, it simply means that God showed his blessing on the Founding and continues to bless America today. For others, it means that religion played a leading role in the Revolution and constitutional formation, inspiring the actors in their tasks. For still others, it means that the basis for republican and constitutional principles is found in Christianity, and that the Founders consciously relied on those Christian principles in their work. Thus the myth has a protean quality to it and can appeal to a large number of people at least on an abstract level.</p><p><strong><em>Q. Our Constitution is secular and doesn’t even contain a generic reference to God in the body of the text. Was that deliberate? How unusual was it to have a secular constitution in the late 18th century?</em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> I believe the omission of a reference to God was deliberate, although I would not go so far as to say the drafters intended to make it an anti-religious document. The drafters knew about the religious diversity of the new nation and understood the highly divisive nature of religion. James Madison wrote several times about the dangers of political and religious sectarianism for republican governments. The delegates to the Convention had a lot on their plate, seeking consensus on important issues of representation and balance of powers. Introducing religion into the Convention would have been highly divisive and possibly scuttled the enterprise. In addition, a smaller but not insignificant number of delegates believed that government and religious authority should be completely and permanently divorced. They knew the lessons of history and understood that they were charting a new course, one never undertaken before in western history. The secularity of the Constitution and government it established are best demonstrated by the no-religious test clause, a remarkable achievement for the time as it disabused old assumptions about the necessity of religion for good government.</p><p><strong><em>Q. Most of the people who peddle the “Christian nation” myth are not historians and academics. (David Barton is an example.) How is the “Christian nation” thesis regarded in academic circles these days?</em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> I know of no reputable academic who embraces Barton’s conclusions or his “historical method” of proof texting. It is not history but propaganda masquerading as history. Unfortunately, Barton’s method and conclusions are so discredited that scholars tend to ignore him and disregard his influence in certain circles. In addition, Barton and other Christian nationalists gain mileage from a group of conservative scholars who promote a view of a more Christian-inspired founding and who argue that most of the Founders held more conventional Christian beliefs than is commonly argued.</p><p><em><strong>Q. When we discuss the founders, one often hears a lot about Deism. This belief system has fallen out of favor today. What is Deism and how much influence did it have over the framers?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> Deism – the belief of a detached God who established rational laws of nature that could be deduced through reason, rather than revelation – was highly influential among members of the founding generation as it accorded with the prevailing Enlightenment thought of the day. That said, few if any of the Founders were actual “deists” – only Benjamin Franklin described himself as a deist – but were rational theists who sought to incorporate reason into their own belief systems. Usually this meant assessing scripture through the lens of reason, rejecting or severely limiting those miraculous and superstitious parts of the Bible.</p><p><em><strong>Q. Let’s talk about some specific founders. George Washington is something of an enigma when it comes to religion. He is often depicted in pietistic ways in popular iconography. (The painting of him praying in the snow at Valley Forge is a good example.) Yet we know that his views were hardly evangelical. What has your research uncovered about Washington and religion? </strong></em></p><p><strong>Green: </strong>Washington was a humanistic latitudinarian – emphasizing those commonalities among various religions and abjuring sectarian differences. Though a member of the Church of England, he was a rational theist in his approach to Christian doctrines, likely denying many traditional doctrines such as the virgin birth and the miracles. Still, he believed in a general providence toward the nation (and sometimes a particular providence con­­­­cerning himself). He was not orthodox for the day, and by contemporary standards, he may not have even been a Christian in the traditional sense.</p><p><strong><em>Q. Thomas Jefferson is another founder whose views are often warped by the Religious Right. We know that Jefferson was not an orthodox Christian, and of course he coined the metaphor of the “wall of separation between church and state.” Yet we hear some conservatives today claim that Jefferson didn’t really support church-state separation. How do you respond to this?</em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> Any fair analysis of the body of Jefferson’s work should lead to the conclusion that he advocated a strong version of church-state separation. Jefferson believed that religion corrupted government, that government manipulated religion for its ends, and that institutional religion had corrupted the essence of Christianity. Certainly there are some inconsistencies in his actions (as there would be of any political figure), but those are seen mainly from a 21st century perspective. His actions and positions need to be judged by the standards of the day, and he needs to be understood for how far he had deviated from the status quo.</p><p><strong><em>Q. Some Religious Right activists point to things like the national motto “In God We Trust” and “under God” on currency as proof of our country’s religious underpinnings. What do you think of this argument? </em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> Such declarations mean nothing more than the expressed opinion of the particular Congress that made them. Both phrases did not originate during the founding period, with the phrase appearing on coins during the Civil War, while its placement on paper currency, as well as the adoption of the national motto, occurred during the Cold War of the 1950s. These are not proofs of the nation’s religious underpinnings.</p><p><strong><em>Q. I’m going to ask you to speculate a bit. The most recent Pew Forum survey shows the number of Christians in America at an all-time low (70 percent). At the same time, the number of people who say they have no religion is rising. How will the changing religious landscape of America affect the “Christian nation” myth? Will the time come when it can finally be discarded?</em></strong></p><p><strong>Green:</strong> I believe the idea is becoming less important for younger generations, and is even anathema to the increasing number of non-Christians in the United States. As religious pluralism increases, I hope the idea will die away, as it remains contentious and divisive. However, some conservative Christians will cling onto the idea even more fiercely when they perceive that they are on the losing end of America’s changing religious demographics. </p></div></div><h3 >Scholar Steven K. Green Explores The Origins Of The ‘Christian Nation’&nbsp;Myth</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11219" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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The <span class="cs-month field">July/August</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith">Founded On Faith?</a></h3>
<h4>As Denominational Ties In The United States Fray, The Religious Right Clings To The Idea That The United States Is An Officially ‘Christian Nation’</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/operation-exclusion">Operation Exclusion?</a></h3>
<h4>A Misguided Belief In ‘Christian Nation’ Theology Spurs N.C. County Officials To Exclude Minorities From Public Prayers</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america">The Invention Of A Christian America</a></h3>
<h4>Scholar Steven K. Green Explores The Origins Of The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/au-in-action">AU In Action</a></h3>
<h4>Staff Members And Chapter Activists Spread The Word About Church-State Separation</h4> </div>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/nevada-passes-sweeping-school-choice-law">Nevada Passes Sweeping School Choice Law</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/activist-says-la-public-schools-teach">Activist Says La. Public Schools Teach Creationism</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/ny-governor-pushes-school-tax-credit-plan">N.Y. Governor Pushes School Tax Credit Plan </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/obama-says-religion-can-fight-poverty">Obama Says Religion Can Fight Poverty</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/nc-legislature-votes-to-override-veto-of-anti">N.C. Legislature Votes To Override Veto Of Anti-Gay Bill</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/va-county-loses-sectarian-prayer-fight">Va. County Loses Sectarian Prayer Fight</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/w-va-lawsuit-claims-evolution-is-religious">W. Va. Lawsuit Claims Evolution Is Religious Doctrine</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/around-the-world-israeli-soldier-avoids-jail">Around The World: Israeli Soldier Avoids Jail For Ham Sandwich</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-muslim-in">Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Muslim In Headscarf Case </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/with-au-s-help-nj-woman-s-lawsuit-over">With AU’s Help, N.J. Woman’s Lawsuit Over License Plate Advances</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/au-wins-another-round-in-legal-battle-with">AU Wins Another Round In Legal Battle With Notre Dame Over Birth Control Access </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/voters-in-ireland-rebuff-church-with-vote-in">Voters In Ireland Rebuff Church With Vote In Favor Of Marriage Equality</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/mo-church-can-t-demand-to-take-part-in-state">Mo. Church Can’t Demand To Take Part In State Aid Program, Court Says</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/montana-school-cancels-field-trip-to">Montana School Cancels Field Trip To Creationist Ministry After AU Complaint </a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/colo-teacher-says-religious-activity-is">Colo. Teacher Says Religious Activity Is Rampant In Public School District</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/books-ideas/one-nation-under-god">One Nation Under God:</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/perspective/a-scottish-ramble-in-europe-anti-lgbt-animus">A Scottish Ramble: In Europe, Anti-LGBT Animus Gives Up The Ghost</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim">The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth: A Pernicious Claim That Needs To Die For Good </a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steven-k-green-0">Steven K. Green</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-barton">David Barton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/god-we-trust">in god we trust</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/under-god">under god</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11222 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america#commentsOperation Exclusion?https://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/operation-exclusion
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year in <em>Town of</em> <em>Greece v. Galloway </em>that communities may open their official meetings with prayer – as long as they strive to be inclusive.</p><p>It seems that Lincoln County, N.C., Commissioner Carroll Mitchem didn’t get that memo.</p><p>Mitchem, who identifies as Christian, announced recently that non-Christians, especially Muslims, would not be permitted to deliver prayers or invocations at county commission meetings.</p><p>“A Muslim? He comes in here to say a prayer, I’m going to tell him to leave,” Mitchem thundered. “I have no use for [those] people. They don’t need to be here praying to Allah or whoever the hell they pray to. I’m not going to listen to [a] Muslim pray.”</p><p>Mitchem popped off after a local newspaper, the Lincoln <em>Times-News</em>, asked him about a court ruling that forced nearby Rowan County, N.C., commissioners to allow representatives of all faiths and none to offer invocations at its meetings.</p><p>A fiery Mitchem just kept going, telling a local TV station, “Other religions, or whatever, are in the minority. The U.S. was founded on Christianity. I don’t believe we need to be bowing to the minorities. The U.S. and the Constitution were founded on Christianity. This is what the majority of people believe in, and it’s what I’m standing up for.” He even suggested that if Muslims don’t like it they “stay the hell away.”</p><p>In Rowan County, commissioners had personally delivered the prayers, which resulted in exclusively Christian content. Commissioners repeatedly referenced “Jesus” and “the Savior,” and directly encouraged meeting attendees to participate in the prayers by opening with “let us pray” or, frequently, “please pray with me.”</p><p>That violated the Constitution, according to U.S. District Court Judge James A. Beaty.</p><p>Rowan County is something of an outlier: Most local government bodies have respected the Supreme Court’s <em>Greece </em>verdict. There have, however, been a few notable exceptions.</p><p>The Chesterfield County, Va., Board of Supervisors tried to restrict invocations to “ordained religious leaders of monotheistic religions.” The Hunts­ville, Ala., city council rescinded its invocation invitation to a Wiccan priest in response to local outcry. </p><p>Americans United and its allies, including the American Civil Liberties Union, sent legal letters to both municipalities that reminded them of their legal obligations. Both adjusted their policies accordingly.</p><p>But Rowan County is still resisting. Its county commissioners just voted to appeal Beaty’s ruling – to the exasperation of the ACLU, which filed the suit in question.</p><p>For a while, Lincoln County seemed poised to copy that script. Its county commission already had an exclusionary invocation policy in place; the <em>Times-News </em>reports that commissioners simply rotated between “a couple” of Christian ministers.</p><p>And Mitchem swore the practice wouldn’t change.</p><p>“I’m very adamant about that,” he declared. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that happens. We’re going to pray as usual.”</p><p>He had some support, too: Another commissioner, Alex Patton, also publicly slammed the prospect of inclusive invocations.</p><p>“We’ve gone overboard in catering to the small vocal minority,” Patton said. “Atheists are 1 or 2 percent or what­ever, but because they cry the loud­est, people cater to them. Judges ca­ter to the freedom of religion. That free­dom is for me as a Christian as well.”</p><p>These statements alarmed Americans United, and its legal team sent the county a letter reminding officials that they can’t restrict invocations to Christians.</p><p>“We write to inform you that such a discriminatory policy would blatantly violate the U.S. Constitution and subject your county to legal liability,” the letter stated. “[W]e ask that the Commission refrain from discriminating against non-Christians in selecting invocation speakers and that you adopt a policy which ensures that such discrimination will not occur.”</p><p>AU’s missive also suggested that county commissioners avoid invocations entirely but added that if the commission chose to continue them, it is required by law to adopt a policy that extends the privilege to representatives of all beliefs – and none.</p><p>On May 18, commissioners met to consider AU’s letter and to adopt a new prayer policy. Despite Mitchem’s and Patton’s remarks, they drafted a policy that appears, at least superficially, to be more inclusive than its predecessor.</p><p>Invocations are now open to “religious leaders or chosen leaders of any assembly that periodically and regularly meets in Lincoln County for the purpose of worshiping or discussing their religious perspectives.”</p><p>But that hasn’t reassured everyone. In an editorial for the <em>Charlotte Observer, </em>Duston Barto, a life-long Lincoln County resident and practicing Muslim, said that Mitchem’s remarks “exposed his severe lack of tolerance toward other religions.”</p><p>“Telling us to ‘stay the hell away’ because of our chosen religion is a slap to the face. We’re a family of patriotic Americans who love our country,” Barto wrote. “Whether he loves Islam or not is beside the point; he should know that as an elected official he represents his entire constituency and not just those he ideologically agrees with.”</p><p>In an interview with <em>Church &amp; State</em>, Barto said he wasn’t surprised by the commissioner’s sentiments or his attempt to restrict invocations to Christians.</p><p>“I had been bracing myself for it to happen,” Barto said. “It was bound to happen because we’re in a heavily GOP area, and it’s been hijacked by loons.”</p><p>Barto, who is also the editor of <em>Muslim American </em>magazine, credits his position for providing him with some recourse to speak publicly. That platform, he notes, is a privilege that most local Muslims don’t enjoy.</p><p>“Many Muslims were afraid to go to the [commission] meeting,” he said. Barto noted that for some, Mitchem’s comments revived old fears, remarking, “Many are Bosnians, who are afraid of the government because of what they went through.” </p><p>Added Barto, “I wasn’t surprised, but I was taken aback by how bold it was. He was initiating bigotry when there was no conflict. Unfortunately, it does reflect the majority vocal view….They are good, honest, hard-working people, but local people of faith tend to be violently anti-Muslim, anti-anything that isn’t evangelical.”</p><p>And at least some county residents didn’t appreciate Mitchem’s remarks. A local TV station that did a round of “person on the street” interviews found a lack of support for Mitchem’s views.</p><p>Barto is still not convinced the commission’s new policy will include religious minorities. “All they did was put in words what they were practicing, which was exclusionary,” he said.</p><p>Because the policy only opens invocations to members of groups that meet regularly in Lincoln County, either to worship or to “discuss religion,” minorities may still be excluded. Lincoln County’s Muslims aren’t numerous enough to support a local house of worship, and according to Barto, that problem isn’t unique to Muslims.</p><p>Americans United’s senior litigation counsel, Gregory M. Lipper, told <em>Church &amp; State </em>the flap illustrates why local governments should be wary of invocations.</p><p>“The Supreme Court couldn’t have been clearer,” Lipper said. “If county commissions want to have invocations or prayers before public meetings, that opportunity must be available to people from all belief traditions.”</p><p>For now, Lipper says the group will watch how Lincoln County implements its new policy.</p><p>“We’re a bit concerned that the policy, as it’s currently written, may have the effect of excluding minority groups,” he said. “But we won’t know that for certain until a representative from a non-Christian tradition tries to apply. And if the County uses the policy to exclude religious minorities or nonbelievers, they’ll be violating the Constitution all over again.”</p><p>Continued Lipper, “If local governments are afraid of religious diversity, they can simply refrain from hosting invocations in the first place.”</p><p>That’s Americans United’s standard recommendation, as per the group’s “Operation Inclusion” campaign. Launched in response to the <em>Greece </em>verdict, Operation Inclusion encourages local activists to make sure their town councils and county commissions obey the nuances of the Supreme Court’s ruling. The campaign’s model policy also advises government bodies to avoid invocations and prayers altogether.</p><p>Lincoln County may yet decide that’s the best course of action. For now, prayers continue. And so does debate. </p><p> </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/ms-sarah-jones">Sarah Jones</a><h3 >A Misguided Belief In ‘Christian Nation’ Theology Spurs N.C. County Officials To Exclude Minorities From Public&nbsp;Prayers</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11219" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith">Founded On Faith?</a></h3>
<h4>As Denominational Ties In The United States Fray, The Religious Right Clings To The Idea That The United States Is An Officially ‘Christian Nation’</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/operation-exclusion">Operation Exclusion?</a></h3>
<h4>A Misguided Belief In ‘Christian Nation’ Theology Spurs N.C. County Officials To Exclude Minorities From Public Prayers</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america">The Invention Of A Christian America</a></h3>
<h4>Scholar Steven K. Green Explores The Origins Of The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/au-in-action">AU In Action</a></h3>
<h4>Staff Members And Chapter Activists Spread The Word About Church-State Separation</h4> </div>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/with-au-s-help-nj-woman-s-lawsuit-over">With AU’s Help, N.J. Woman’s Lawsuit Over License Plate Advances</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/people-events/colo-teacher-says-religious-activity-is">Colo. Teacher Says Religious Activity Is Rampant In Public School District</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-books--ideas"> <h3>Books &amp; Ideas</h3>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/perspective/a-scottish-ramble-in-europe-anti-lgbt-animus">A Scottish Ramble: In Europe, Anti-LGBT Animus Gives Up The Ghost</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/editorial/the-christian-nation-myth-a-pernicious-claim">The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth: A Pernicious Claim That Needs To Die For Good </a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/greece-v-galloway">Greece v. Galloway</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11221 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/operation-exclusion#commentsFounded On Faith?https://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>It was June 28, 1787, and the delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had reached an impasse. At a critical moment in which it seemed the convention was nearing dissolution, 81-year-old Benjamin Franklin made an impassioned plea for all present to join together in prayer as a means of easing the mounting tension.</p><p>“[T]he longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this Truth – that God governs in the Affairs of Men,” Franklin said. “I also believe [that] without his concurring Aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.” </p><p>Thanks to Franklin the delegates prayed, which helped them work through their differences and eventually create the U.S. Constitution.</p><p>It’s a heartwarming story to many Americans. But it’s just that – a story. Or, more accurately, it’s a fairy tale. In truth, Franklin did make the appeal, but his motion failed and there were no official prayers during the convention. The delegates managed to write the Constitution without assistance from a higher power.</p><p>Myths such as this one persist, courtesy of the likes of pseudo-historian David Barton and GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, because the Religious Right cannot accept that the Founding Fathers were not predominantly fundamentalist Christians who intended America to be an officially “Christian nation.” So in the total absence of supporting evidence for their claims, revisionists like Barton invented “Christian nation” stories to fuel their assertion that the modern United States has strayed from its founding principles and all of the nation’s ills could be cured if Americans simply returned to the ideals espoused by the founders – including a reliance on fundamentalist Christianity.</p><p>What exactly does the Religious Right mean when it says America was founded as an officially “Christian nation”? To one of the chief peddlers of this myth, the Texas-based Barton, who is not a historian and whose only degree is in Christian education, it means the Founding Fathers constructed a government and society that was “shaped and molded” by Christian principles.</p><p>“[The Founders] did want a state religion,” Barton opined during a 2011 interview with Glenn Beck. “That’s why nine out of the 13 colonies had state religions….[And] for 350 years America was described as a Christian nation, and there was a definition that went with it. We have neglected that definition, particularly in the last 15 years; we’ve allowed the left to redefine it to something it never was. But if you say we’re not a Christian nation, you have to throw out 300 court cases that say we are. You have to throw out several hundred laws that say we’re a Christian nation.”</p><p>Although Barton failed to cite any specific laws or court cases as evidence for his claims, he very likely had the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1892 <em>Holy Trinity Church v. United States</em> decision in mind. In that case, the high court unanimously said a New York City church should not have been fined $1,000 for violating an immigration law when it hired a new rector from Britain.</p><p>The court’s reasoning was that Congress only intended for the law to apply to manual laborers, not professional jobs like clergy. So what does this have to do with “Christian nation” mythology? As then-Americans United Legal Director Steven K. Green explained in a 1989 article for <em>Church &amp; State</em>, one Supreme Court justice added a second rationale for the <em>Holy Trinity</em> verdict. Justice David Brewer pontificated that Congress would never seek to punish a church because the United States is a Christian nation, founded by true believers who created laws that both honor and protect Christianity.</p><p>Green said these comments by Brewer are often misunderstood.</p><p>“Brewer’s declaration of America’s Christian nationhood is an example of ‘dictum,’” Green wrote. “In legal terms, dictum means that portion of a court’s opinion that has no bearing on the decision. It simply represents a judge’s personal feelings on a particular matter….”</p><p>Green added that Brewer’s claim is inconsistent with later Supreme Court rulings and was rarely cited favorably in future cases. “Consequently, <em>Holy Trinity</em> is an anomaly; it stands alone in the constitutional landscape,” Green said. </p><p>The idea that America is a “Christian nation” did not, however, originate with Brewer. In <em>Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding</em>, which is due out this month, Green, now a law professor at Willamette College School of Law in Salem, Oregon, argued that the “Christian nation” myth springs from the 1820s – a time of growing religious piety when a generation that followed the Founding Fathers began to search for a foundational myth that would link the fledgling nation with God in a meaningful way. (For more on Green’s book, see “The Invention of a ‘Christian America,” page 9.)</p><p>This activity culminated during the U.S. Civil War when a group known as the National Reform Association tried unsuccessfully to alter the pre­amble of the Constitution to include several references to Christianity and Jesus Christ. One post-war iteration of the proposed language stated: “We, the people of the United States recognizing the being and attributes of Almighty God, the Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures, the law of God as the paramount rule, and Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior and Lord of all, in order to form a more perfect union….”</p><p>Other historians have focused on the more recent escalation of the “Christian nation” tall tale. Princeton University history professor Kevin M. Kruse wrote in his new book, <em>One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America</em>, that the modern iteration of the “Christian nation” idea took off in the early 1930s when a band of business leaders endorsed the concept as a way of fighting back against President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.</p><p>“Capitalism and Christianity had been mixed by Americans before the New Deal, to be sure,” Kruse said in a recent interview with <em>Salon</em>. “These previous fusions of faith and free enterprise had always stressed their common <em>social </em>characteristics, but starting in the 1930s Christianity and capitalism were fused in a more political context.”</p><p>Initially, Kruse argued, business leaders who opposed the New Deal were in a bind. They wanted to stave off government attempts at economic regulation, but they had almost no credibility in the eyes of the public because average Americans blamed them for causing the Great Depression. So they needed outsiders who could repair their image, and the solution to their predicament turned out to be clergy. The legacy of this alliance between business and religion can be seen today, Kruse said, in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in <em>Burwell v.</em> <em>Hobby Lobby Stores</em>.</p><p>“In 2014, the Supreme Court issued its controversial <em>Hobby Lob­by</em> decision, ruling that a corporation could be exempt from the contraception mandates of the Affordable Care Act,” Kruse told <em>Salon</em>. “So we’re currently witnessing a resurgence of that ideology in American law with the idea that corporations not only are capable of having religious beliefs, but that such beliefs make these businesses exempt from the laws of the regulatory state.” (See a review of Kruse’s book on page 20.) </p><p>While the exact origin of the “Chris­tian nation” story may be up for debate, one thing remains clear: The Religious Right’s claims about the Founding Fathers are blatantly false. On at least one occasion, the U.S. government made it clear that it has no official tie to religion. The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli, which was signed by President John Adams – who also signed the Declaration of Independence – states bluntly, “As the Government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion….”</p><p>The writings of many of the founders also support the idea expressed in the Treaty of Tripoli. Perhaps the most significant Founding Father, at least in terms of the Constitution, was James Madison – and he made it clear where he stood on church-state separation.</p><p>Madison, widely considered the father of the First Amendment, in an 1819 letter reflected on the development of church-state separation in Virginia, writing, “The civil Government, though bereft of everything like an associated hierarchy, possesses the requisite stability, and performs its functions with complete success, whilst the number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people, have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the State.”</p><p>Over the years, even members of the clergy have debunked the Religious Right’s “Christian nation” arguments. One of them, Gregory A. Boyd, senior pastor at the evangelical Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., wrote a book in 2006 titled <em>The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church</em>. In it, Boyd rejects “Christian nation” mythology on a theological basis.</p><p>“America wasn’t founded as a theocracy,” Boyd told <em>The New York Times</em> in 2006. “America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn’t bloody and barbaric. That’s why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.”</p><p>Added Boyd, “I am sorry to tell you that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and the hope of the world is Jesus Christ.”</p><p> But don’t tell any of that to Barton, who has some pretty odd “evidence” to back up his notions about early America, including a bizarre theory that America’s constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion somehow proves it is a Christian country. </p><p>“And the belief was, hey, you come to a Christian nation, we’re going to tell you what our belief is and you get to make your choice, but we’ll not force you into any belief…,” Barton said during the interview with Beck. “That’s what the courts pointed to as one of the chief characteristics that we were, indeed, a Christian nation because other types of nations do not give you that choice….”</p><p>In other instances, Barton plays fast and loose with facts. In a now discredited book, <em>The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You’ve Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson</em>, Barton claimed that Jefferson was a devout, orthodox Christian. Scholars strongly disagree with this claim, and even Barton was unable to account for Jefferson’s extensive writings in which he expressed his disbelief in core Christian doctrines like the virgin birth, the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity and the resurrection. Barton’s explanation? Late in life, Jefferson fell under the sway of preachers in central Virginia who held unorthodox views.</p><p>The problem with Barton’s myth­ology is it emboldens fundamentalists who wish to force their dogma on others. A recent example concerns Pastor Randy Pfaff of Cowboy Church at the Crossroads in Colorado, who has been accused preaching to students at Florence High School.</p><p>Among the accusations in a lawsuit: Pfaff hosts Christian prayer at the school in a room explicitly allocated to him, and the prayer sessions occur during lunch periods, a custom students nicknamed “Jesus Pizza” due to the program’s sectarian nature and the fact that Pfaff serves pizzas to students. In response to the allegations Pfaff was dismissive, citing bogus history as justification for his actions.</p><p>“I don’t believe the Constitution was meant to keep God out of the schools,” Pfaff told the <em>Denver Post</em>. “That’s absolutely absurd. This nation was founded on Christianity.”</p><p>It is likely that Religious Right myths about the founding of America will persist for quite some time, at least partly in response to mounting evidence that the United States is becoming less Christian. As reported in May, the Pew Research Center’s latest Religious Landscape Study found that roughly 56 million Americans now identify as agnostic, atheist or “nothing in particular.” That’s more than 22 percent of the population, and represents a jump of almost 7 percent from Pew’s last survey.</p><p>And while the “nones” recently gained in number, Christianity has mostly seen a decline in the United States over the same period. The faith still comprises 70 percent of the population, but mainline traditions – including the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – are down sharply. According to Pew, these churches lost anywhere from 3 million to 7.3 million members from 2007-2014.</p><p>Thus the “Christian nation” myth­ology lives on, even among some who seek the highest elected office in the United States. In a 2014 column for <em>The</em> <em>Washington Times</em>, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, a rising Religious Right star who is seeking the GOP presidential nomination, told his own, mostly inaccurate, version of Frank­lin’s supposed saving of the Constitutional Convention through prayer.</p><p>“At [Franklin’s] suggestion, they knelt and prayed, and then went on to put together a 16-page document known as the Constitution of United States, which is one of the most admired documents in history,” Carson wrote. “From that point forward, congressional sessions were started with prayer.”</p><p>The philosopher George Santayana famously observed in 1905, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Barton, Carson and their Religious Right allies have put their own spin on this: Those who do not like the past are encouraged to rewrite it. </p></div></div><a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><h3 >As Denominational Ties In The United States Fray, The Religious Right Clings To The Idea That The United States Is An Officially ‘Christian&nbsp;Nation’</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Featured</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/history-and-origins-church-state-separation">History and Origins of Church-State Separation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/legal-foundations-church-state-separation">Legal Foundations of Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11219" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">July/August</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith">Founded On Faith?</a></h3>
<h4>As Denominational Ties In The United States Fray, The Religious Right Clings To The Idea That The United States Is An Officially ‘Christian Nation’</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/operation-exclusion">Operation Exclusion?</a></h3>
<h4>A Misguided Belief In ‘Christian Nation’ Theology Spurs N.C. County Officials To Exclude Minorities From Public Prayers</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/the-invention-of-a-christian-america">The Invention Of A Christian America</a></h3>
<h4>Scholar Steven K. Green Explores The Origins Of The ‘Christian Nation’ Myth</h4> </div>
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<h3 class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/au-in-action">AU In Action</a></h3>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/david-barton">David Barton</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation-myth">Christian nation myth</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/christian-nation">christian nation</a></span></div></div>Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11220 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2015-church-state/featured/founded-on-faith#commentsClay County AU (FL) Hosts Rabbi Merrill Shapirohttps://www.au.org/blogs/in-the-field/clay-county-au-fl-hosts-rabbi-merrill-shapiro
<a href="/about/people/ms-elizabeth-corbin">Beth Corbin</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/in-the-field">In The Field</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Religious nationalism, an American Taliban, has now become part of American political theater!</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><div>Rabbi Merrill Shapiro, President of the National Board of Trustees, is speaking tonight at 6:30 PM at the Buckman Bridge Unitarian Universalist Church in Jacksonville. Rabbi Shapiro's topic is “The Theocracy War: Dispatches from the Front.”</div><div><!--break--></div><div>Religious nationalism, an American Taliban, has now become part of American political theater! When Fundamentalists elsewhere in the world insist on tolerance for the oppression of women, for instance, we recognize the injustice of their demands. When Fundamentalists talk about basing their laws on their sacred scriptures or making our community a Theocracy, we have no trouble seeing that their ideas are deeply incompatible with modern Democracy. Yet when Northeast Florida's Theocrats demonize gay men and lesbians and declare their intention to govern our community in the name of Christ, we imagine that, because this is 21st century America, it is somehow different! It isn't. </div><div> </div><div>The event is free and open to the public. Free parking available. For more information visit: <a href="http://firstcoastfreethoughtsociety.org/cms/">http://firstcoastfreethoughtsociety.org/cms/</a></div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/reproductive-health-conscience-clauses-for-religious-objectors">Reproductive Health &amp; Conscience Clauses for Religious Objectors</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/chapter-event">chapter event</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-chapter field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Chapters:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/chapters/clay-county">Clay County</a></div></div></div>Mon, 15 Jun 2015 19:29:35 +0000Ms. Beth Corbin11190 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/in-the-field/clay-county-au-fl-hosts-rabbi-merrill-shapiro#commentsAn Evangelical's Lamenthttps://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/viewpoint/an-evangelicals-lament
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p><em>By Leon W. Blevins</em></p><p>I am an evangelical Christian, which means that I openly share the “good news” of the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and I have personally accepted that saving grace for my sins.</p><p>As a trained Southern Baptist minister and a political scientist, I am bothered by many politicians and preachers who proclaim what God intends for me, or us, to do. Our world is populated by countless religions, denominations and self-proclaimed religious leaders that are always telling us what to do, and they make their pronouncements in the name of God.</p><p>There are many conflicting messages I hear from the mouths of some demagogues in the United States at the present time. In 1967, I wrote my Master’s thesis at the University of Texas in EI Paso. It was a 272-page study titled, “Slavery As A Political Instrument In The Name Of Christian Principle: The Growth Of A Political Theory Through Congressional Debate, 1789-1861.” My research and writing involved a detailed study of how the Bible was used during congressional debates by U.S. legislators from the American South.</p><p>Most of those were known as evangelicals, and most of them owned and used black slaves as their labor source. At the height of American slavery, another element was obvious in the United States, and many evangelicals subscribed to it. The element became known as Manifest Destiny.</p><p>Many people subscribed to the idea that God intended that the United States control all of the land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Many evangelicals, particularly in the South, accepted the elimination of native tribes or their removal to unprofitable lands. Remember the Trail of Tears from the South to Oklahoma? Many said it was “God’s will.”</p><p>Many people said that natives who stood in their way were “savages.” They were viewed as non-Bible-believing individuals. Such individuals were told they would go to hell unless they “accepted” Jesus. The teachings of “God’s will” for greedy causes helped lead to decades of Indian Wars, war with Mexico and even the U.S. Civil War.</p><p>God’s will was often enforced through the use of guns and whips. Many evangelicals saw no hypocrisy in their actions. Some believed that it was good for “pagan Africans” to have been brought by force “so that they could find Jesus and go to heaven.” Many missionaries came from Europe to lead so-called “pagan natives” to Jesus.</p><p>After the Civil War, some thought things would be different. They weren’t. There arose racial discrimination and racial segregation. When I was young, I was told that some of my very own evangelical ancestors from Arkansas fought in the Confederate Army. The Ku Klux Klan, a home-grown terrorist group that began in evangelical Tennessee, wrapped its members in white sheets while lynching blacks. Tennessee was declared by some to be “the buckle of the Bible Belt.”</p><p>Evangelical-dominated state legislatures passed all kinds of black codes and laws that were effective in keeping blacks from voting, in spite of U.S. constitutional amendments adopted following the Civil War. In addition, many legislatures, such as the one in Texas, adopted laws or permitted many local governments to discriminate against Hispanics. Many whites praised freedom and opportunities for themselves but not for other ethnic groups.</p><p>I was born in 1937 in a racially segregated farm town near Lubbock, Texas. Blacks were not permitted to live in town, although they could enter to do menial labor. There were racially segregated schools, public facilities, business enterprises and even cemeteries.</p><p>Nearly all of my relatives were viewed as evangelicals. The relatives that I knew overwhelmingly supported racial segregation. They were Christian segregationists. Many of them used racial slurs in their daily conversations, at least until I began to question their attitudes when I was in junior high school.</p><p>I received a bachelor’s degree from Wayland Baptist University in Plainview, Texas. In the late 1950s and early ’60s, when I was there, the school was at the forefront of accepting blacks, Hispanics and other ethnic groups. It was a diverse educational culture, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Many of my fellow students were at the school because they had been evangelized in their home countries: Cuba, China, Columbia, Can­a­da, Nigeria, Mexico and others. The school became famous partially because of its international choir.</p><p>Years have passed, but I remain very skeptical of religious demagogues in our time who use a mixture of religious and political rhetoric to justify their claims for financial or political advancement. When a politician or a preacher shouts that America is an “exceptional land blessed by God,” or shouts that we are a “light on a hill” or, “we are the greatest nation ever created under the hand of God,” I listen with a degree of skepticism.</p><p>I suspect that enslaved blacks and isolated, dying natives did not appreciate such declarations. Many blacks, Hispanics, gays and religious minority groups have experienced long and expensive battles in the streets and the courts in order to win rights that were granted by the U.S. Constitution. </p><p>Sadly, many evangelicals fought against equal rights for all.</p><p>Among the great treasures of the United States are the concepts of liberty and opportunity. Those concepts should belong to everyone.</p><p>In a 1973 book that I wrote I defined a demagogue as, “A person who takes political advantage of social and political unrest through the use of highly emotional and prejudiced appeals to the general population or a particular segment of the general population. A demagogue is usually characterized by such things as scapegoating, utopian idealism, evasiveness, egocentrism, propaganda development, untruthfulness (with lying and half-truths), prejudice, corruption, emotional rhetoric, persecution complexes, Messianic complexes, dogmatism, and aggressiveness.”</p><p>Do any of these characteristics apply to any so-called evangelicals active in far-right politics?</p><p>I remember how religious personalities in the time of Jesus abused their powers while running profitable religious businesses. I remember how they mistreated mixed-race Samaritans, prostitutes and adulterers. (Government tax collectors weren’t treated very well either.)</p><p>I also remember that Jesus said that those religious hypocrites and their followers were like beautiful coffins. They were pretty on the outside, but they were dead and corrupt on the inside.</p><p>We need to be wary of political hacks who wrap themselves in American flags and religious rhetoric in order to gain our support. Remember to check the fruit before you consume it.</p><p>All of us, evangelical or otherwise, are free to choose good or evil. My grandmother, named Anna Goldilee Bevers, taught me the Golden Rule: “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” Mean-spirited and mean-mouthed evangelicals scare me. I feel certain that they disappoint Jesus as well.</p><p>One of the Ten Commandments is, “You should not take God’s name in vain.” To me, that does not mean just using God’s name in vulgar language. It also means using God’s name in vulgar political and religious ways.</p><p>Lying is also mentioned in the Ten Commandments. We also should learn from the past that when government and religion are wrapped in an unholy embrace the general public is endangered. In such situations, religious groups are very likely to be the biggest losers. When American evangelicals who run for public office engage in unsavory and untruthful tactics, they damage the reputations of those who truly seek to live by the precepts of Christ.</p><p>When any of my friends or relatives praise and support demagogues who engage in immoral political techniques, I lose respect for them. When they use vitriolic language in attacking political opponents, they become bad evangelicals. When they openly or secretly support vicious and negative advertising about political opponents, they are directly contradicting the beatitudes of Jesus.</p><p>We need to learn the lesson from Jesus who spoke to Satan when the Grand Deceiver offered him political kingdoms. Jesus said, “Be gone, Satan!” In our time, we need to remind evangelicals who say, repeat or joke in negative ways about people who are “different,” that they should walk in Jesus’ steps.</p><p>If anyone reads this material and thinks that I hate the United States and that I am unpatriotic, think again. For many years, I have been involved in delivering patriotic speeches and serving as Uncle Sam in patriotic events.</p><p>I am glad to see that our nation is not the one that I was born into in 1937. I see many changes in the ways that ethnic minorities, religious minorities and even gender minorities are openly treated. Our nation has come a long way, but it has a long way to go to overcome the poison of prejudice and discrimination.</p><p>Some laws have helped, but the greatest need is for hearts to change. That is what Jesus taught. Even as Jesus hung on the cross he said, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.”</p><p> </p><p><em>Leon W. Blevins is professor of government at EI Paso Community College in El Paso, Texas. </em></p></div></div><h3 >Scarred By A History Of Racism, Conservative Churches Now Find Themselves Entangled In A Web Of Right-Wing&nbsp;Politics</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Viewpoint</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11140" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/racism">Racism</a></span></div></div>Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:45:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11146 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/viewpoint/an-evangelicals-lament#commentsSame-Sex Scare Tactics: No, Churches Won’t Be Forced To Marry Gayshttps://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/editorial/same-sex-scare-tactics-no-churches-won-t-be-forced-to
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>None of the Religious Right’s arguments against marriage equality are particularly strong, but some are much worse than others.</p><p>Here’s the weakest one: Clergy will be forced to officiate at same-sex weddings. The far right has been shopping this one around since Massachusetts became the first state to allow same-sex marriage in 2004. That was 11 years ago. How many members of the clergy in Massachusetts have been forced to perform marriages for same-sex couples since then? How many have been fined or are sitting in prison for refusing?</p><p>Zero. Zilch. None.</p><p>The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees, among other things, the “free exercise” of religion. This means the government can’t interfere in purely religious functions or dictate how faith groups handle sacraments or to whom they offer them.</p><p>A Protestant couple can’t walk into a Catholic church and demand to be married. The priest will tell them that they first must take instruction in the Catholic faith and become church members. He may impose other conditions as well. If the couple doesn’t like it, their only option is to hit the bricks; they have no recourse in courts.</p><p>Despite the frankly foolish nature of this argument, the Religious Right continues to raise it. Even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who surely knows better, made the claim during the April 28 oral argument over marriage equality before the high court.</p><p>When Scalia continued to press the claim, Justice Elena Kagan pointed out to him that some orthodox rabbis will not marry a couple unless both parties are Jewish, and they’ve never been sanctioned or fined for that. There was a tone of annoyance in Kagan’s voice, which is understandable. Scalia appeared to be wasting the court’s time by pandering to the Religious Right, echoing an argument that simply can’t stand up to even a moment’s scrutiny.</p><p>As marriage equality spreads in the United States, clergy who sprout homophobia and hate may find themselves being challenged by people who consider their theology distasteful and divisive. Perhaps their churches will lose members, and they may find that the culture increasingly marginalizes their view.</p><p>The culture may do these things; the government will not. As long as we have a First Amendment, houses of worship will remain free to decide which couples they will marry and what conditions they will impose on those couples. Would Americans Uni­ted support the right of a pastor to refuse to perform a same-sex marriage? Of course. We are quite capable of opposing a church’s policy while recogni­zing its absolute right to hold that view.</p><p>Claims that houses of worship will be forced to host, perform, sanction and bless same-sex marriages are desperate scare tactics. The argument is not persuasive in the least, and if the leaders of the Religious Right had any sense, they’d quit making it.</p></div></div><h3 >None of the Religious Right’s arguments against marriage equality are particularly strong, but some are much worse than others. Here’s the weakest one: Clergy will be forced to officiate at same-sex weddings. The far right has been shopping this one&nbsp;aro</h3><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Editorial</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11140" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/june-2015-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">June</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/june-2015-church-state/au-bulletin/house-votes-to-overturn-dc-anti-discrimination-law">House Votes To Overturn D.C. Anti-Discrimination Law</a></span> </div></li>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lgbt-rights">LGBT rights</a></span></div></div>Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:45:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11148 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/editorial/same-sex-scare-tactics-no-churches-won-t-be-forced-to#commentsBaptist Minister Slams Religious Right For Distorting Religious Libertyhttps://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/people-events/baptist-minister-slams-religious-right-for
<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>The Religious Right has hijacked the concept of religious freedom, changing it from a noble principle intended to protect minorities into a weapon by which the majority oppresses others, a Baptist minister said recently.</p><p>In an April opinion piece for Baptist News Global, the Rev. Corey Fields, associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., wrote that “religious freedom” was once used to help individuals and groups get legal protections. Now, however, it has become an excuse to ignore laws.</p><p>Fields went on to explain that even a measure intended to protect religious liberty, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), a 1993 federal law intended to shield minorities from government overreach, has been corrupted.</p><p>“In 2014, under the guise of ‘religious freedom,’ and stemming from a medically dubious claim about abortifacients, Hobby Lobby won the right to micromanage what kinds of contraception their female employees can obtain with their employer sponsored insurance,” Fields wrote.</p><p>Fields also touched on the misuses of RFRA at the state level, including Indiana’s failed attempt to use “religious freedom” as a way to restrict the rights of LGBT persons. </p><p>“In the last few years, a number of local cases involving Christian bakers, photographers and florists refusing to serve gay couples gained national attention,” he wrote. “Lo and behold, new state religious freedom bills were introduced in state legislatures shortly thereafter.”</p><p>Fields went on to criticize business owners who think their religious beliefs should be a justification for discrimination.</p><p>“Being required to conduct your business fairly and within commerce regulations does not constitute the loss of freedom or religious persecution,” Fields wrote.</p><p>Although the Religious Right has hijacked the idea of “religious persecution,” Fields said many Americans do suffer genuine threats to their beliefs. Many American Christians, how­ever, do not know what real persecution looks like because they have a tendency to “confuse criticism with persecution.”</p><p>The problem of phony persecution claims, Fields said, will likely disappear if fundamentalists in the United States adopt the advice of Americans United ally Brent Walker, head of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.</p><p>“Try loving your LGBT neighbors unconditionally and understand that providing them goods and services in the marketplace is an act of Christian hospitality, not an indication of approval of their nuptial decisions,” Walker said.</p><p>Fields also encouraged Christian business owners to act with grace. He noted that Jesus said to his followers, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles (Matt. 5:41).”</p><p>Fields explained: “This teaching was delivered within the context of first-century Palestine under Roman occupation in which impressment was common; i.e., a Roman soldier conscripting someone to carry his equipment. I can imagine such acts made the Jewish people feel complicit in Rome’s oppression, yet Jesus told them to go the extra mile.”</p></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-department field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">People &amp; Events</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice">Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice in the Workplace</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/outside-workplace-discrimination-exemptions-religious-practice-including-military-prisons">Institutional Discrimination, Exemptions &amp; Religious Practice (Including Military, Prisons &amp; Healthcare)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-refusals-and-rfra">Religious Refusals and RFRA</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/marriage">Marriage</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/reproductive-health-conscience-clauses-for-religious-objectors">Reproductive Health &amp; Conscience Clauses for Religious Objectors</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-privacy-issues-including-end-of-life-matters-etc">Other Privacy Issues (including end-of-life matters, etc.)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/responding-common-attacks-church-state-separation">Responding to Common Attacks on Church-State Separation</a></span></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cs-issue field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Magazine Issue:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><article id="node-11140" class="node node-church-state-issue clearfix">
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<h2><a href="/church-state/june-2015-church-state">
The <span class="cs-month field">June</span> <span class="cs-year field"><span class="date-display-single">2015</span></span> issue of <em>Church &amp; State</em>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/june-2015-church-state/viewpoint/an-evangelicals-lament">An Evangelical&#039;s Lament</a></span> </div></li>
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<div class="views-field views-field-title"> <span class="field-content"><a href="/church-state/june-2015-church-state/editorial/a-discordant-note-even-high-school-musicals-must">A Discordant Note: Even High School Musicals Must Accord With Constitution</a></span> </div></li>
</ul></div><div class="cs-department" id="section-people--events"> <h3>People &amp; Events</h3>
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</div></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-freedom-restoration-act-rfra">Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/baptist-church">Baptist Church</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/hobby-lobby">Hobby Lobby</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/lgbt-rights">LGBT rights</a></span></div></div>Mon, 01 Jun 2015 03:45:00 +0000Timothy Ritz11163 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/church-state/june-2015-church-state/people-events/baptist-minister-slams-religious-right-for#comments